Jackson's POV
Silently we gathered ourselves back into the palace of the underworld. Looking around at the destruction caused by the earlier events, my eyes land on a resting Athena delicately placed on a bed within one of the many spare rooms. Everyone in the room waiting for the first person to speak up and break the tension but the unwillingness becoming painfully obvious between us all.
A large thump of the doors slamming open bring us to our feet in shock and fear as we patiently wait for whatever's going to appear through our own. With every bang getting progressively closer it eventually reaches ours, creaking the door open to reveal 5 figures either limping or relying on another for support.
"Percy...what happened!?" Adam's panicked face runs to him but he turns his head away and towards Athena. Urging him to check on her first. The other 4 being Yasmine, Alex, Arthur and Ryan. Blood and cuts filling up Arthur's body from his lack of a healing factor but nonetheless he makes his way toward Nimue's frozen stature, looking off through the window as if in her own world.
"...Anyone want to explain what went on at the front there?" Alex questions, referring to the entrance of the palace.
"You guys don't exactly look the best either, what happened with you?" Chris crosses his arms, standing up and guiding them to spread out through the room.
"From what I've heard from Ryan and Arthur. Keyon...or whatever that was, attacked them but then wandered off to what I presumed to be here?" Alex explains, leading on for Yasmine to continue.
"Back at the old pack house we...didn't exactly have the best experience ourselves" She awkwardly laughs, "Something was using Rane's body as a host of sorts...she called herself Hemsa, a banshee"
Chris frowned face revealing his immediate confusion, "A Banshee overwhelmed all 3 of you?"
"That's the thing, she didn't. Adam did." She looks over to him, urging him to explain his side.
"I-don't know what exactly happened myself. Anytime I wandered to that place I felt a sense of blissfulness, placed into a serene state of mind anytime I spoke to the thing. I can't blame anyone but myself for my actions and I'm sorry for that" He looks down out of shame, picking Percy up to move him closer to Athena.
"The odd thing is, she didn't scream. Not a single sound further than a whisper left her lips." Alex comments, causing Gabriela to attempt to speak with small grunts but her cheeks appear with a fading scar across them. "Do you know something about that?" He tries to communicate to her, receiving a nod as a response.
"How come she can't speak" He gestures to the rest of us but we shrug, unknowing the answer ourselves.
Chris hands her a piece of paper and pen, "Well as she writes, I know someone that's been holding back on us with information clearly" He kisses his teeth, closing his eyes and swapping out with Anubis.
An immediate anger filled look taking over his face as he begins to speak, "I didn't believe I needed to inform you all of this prior as truthfully, there was no reason for you to even know". Taking in a deep inhale followed by a sigh, he regretfully explains. "I referred to them as prototypes as that's the more accurate description for them. But they...used to be called Shades. Every species has their origin much like Fenrir is to yours" He waves his hand throughout the room, referring to the wolves.
"That what you have there, is that not the mirror of Amaterasu. The prison of which you now keep Fenrir?" He points towards the golden dish that lies between Ryan's hand.
"Y-yeah? I think. It was by the entrance of the pack's underworld portal, buried under some sand."
"And so tell me, where are the shards that make it a mirror?" He takes it from his hands, holding it up and turning it around to confirm.
"The mirror went missing after we sealed Fenrir, when Chris went back for it alongside Oracion's sword. It apparently wasn't there anymore, I'd assume you would know that though as you've been silently looking through his eyes this entire time." Adam's cold stare being returned by Anubis as they lock eyes briefly.
"There was an old passage written across the walls of where we found this mirror.", "They were here before the gods, in remembrance to their existences, each iridescent fragment contains a life. Prisoners within their own biology, an unrivalled tale to the world. It. Began. Here." He recalls with a vivid phrasing but none of us react out of a misunderstanding of the text.
"You've been told the mirror was a prison, you were warned what would happen if you were to seal something as powerful as Fenrir within it. As for how it went missing will remain within dark until we figure out what exactly got out and took those shards with them." He places it down, walking over to a wall and leaning against it with his arms crossed much like Chris does.
"Wait so is that it?" Yasmine calls out with annoyance.
"I don't know what more you want me to do, I'm not an all seeing all knowing god. I have limitations to my own memory, especially to history that us gods were never even told of." He stares at her with malice even as Alex steps in front of her.
"Is there absolutely anything else you could remember...even the slightest thing?"
Closing his eyes and looking up he speaks once again, "Fenrir was the first of his kind, but he wasn't a shade, never having been bound to the mirror. The one you referred to being Hemsa was the first Banshee supposedly. The one that was in the underworld and attacked us all...I don't know what he was, I can't even begin to imagine what their actual forms would look like."
"I-think you're looking at this wrong" Athena's body sits up, earning Adam and Percy's clear expression of fondness towards her. "I'm okay, chill out" She places her hands on their heads to stop them from smothering her to death, keeping them satisfied by having their arms wrapped around her.
Clearing his throat, Anubis silences the room once more. "And how would I be looking at this wrong exactly?" He sounds almost hurt by her remark.
"If you're describing them as prototypes then they wouldn't be exactly like the actual creation. Would they? Something with defects or alterations that make them stand out from the real thing?"
"I suppose that would be true, Yasmine. Hemsa called herself a Banshee, but she...whispered?"
"Not a single sound was above the needed pitch, she continued to whisper into Adam's ear and from what we saw, she was influencing him?" She ends with a sense of confusion, looking at Adam for confirmation.
"It was more like she gave me something I wanted, keeping me in a world I desired so that I wouldn't want to leave. Until of course Alex broke me out of that" He smiles towards him, still obviously grateful.
"It had claws along both his feet and hands, sitting on top of a skinny-ish figure, like what's left of a starved body." Ryan completes. "His eyes were-"
"White?" Athena completes, picking up her completely blacked out hair and causing Adam to stand up, only just now realising her permanent change in colour.
"What happened Athena?" He questions
"I'll talk about it in a bit, I can feel there's something you want to tell me as well." She responds with understanding, feeling his on edge state as if he's ready to attack a sudden movement of anyone or anything.
Anubis leans back off the wall, tilting his head towards me. "I want to confirm something first."
"Go on" Athena encourages him
"When we were being lifted up by the ink, by Theta. We all saw it right?" He leans closer to me, kneeling in front of me as I sit on a chair, still having a towering height over me. "What...are you?" He places his paw on my head, filling it with his voice that echoes over and over and over. 'What are you? What are you?' Rumbling something deep within me that causes my eyes to shoot open, kicking the chair away from my own feet to stand up and meet his eyes. Grabbing his paw and forcing it off me.
Uncovering my vision from him I stand in the middle of the room with everyone's eyes watching me. "Wha-"
"Jackson" Nimue's previously distracted gaze that even ignored her injured brother, tilted to me. My gaze however not lingering on them for long, instead focused on Irene's figure standing in the corner with a sad look written across her face.
"I don't understand-why are you all..." Anubis takes the golden dish from the table, showing me my reflection within the gold. An unmistaken hollow white hue replaces my original colour. The tingling sensation within my eyes showing to be sparks of that same white I saw within the figure's skull.
"But hold on, the other two didn't have a body. Right? They needed something else?" Athena quickly defends me, making her way towards me and kneeling beside me with a smile.
"That scribbled outline of a shadow? Who's to say he isn't simply possessing the body?" Yasmine calls out, stomping towards me and backing me into a corner. Her advancement stopped by Athena, Percy and Nimue as they stand in front of me.
"He's the only reason why we're alive Yasmine, I think we're more than indebt to simply understand the boy a bit better before we slaughter him, yeah?" Athena challenges her, making her stand back in realisation.
"I'm sorry, I just don't want to go through that again." She looks towards Alex, obviously hurt by something.
"Oh my god Arthur what happened!?" Nimue calls out, running to her brother's damaged body.
"I've been trying to get your attention Nimue, what's wrong?" He ignores his own blood and instead focuses on her as she tightly grips her arm.
"No-nothing, I'm sorry I left you alone." She butts heads with him softly, earning his smile which makes her lean back. Flicking his head and making him grunt out in pain, "Clearly you aren't in enough pain" She laughs before sitting down in the seat I kicked away.
"Has anyone informed Yue of this?" Athena speaks, mostly pointing to Ryan.
"Y-yeah but she seemed busy with something so we made our way here, right Adam?" He turns to him for conformation.
"I believe some of the pack members were distressed about the portal being open now, she should have them calmed down by the time we return." He scratches his neck, stressed about the memory itself.
"I-" Gabriela tugs on Anubis' fur, showing him the sheet she's been writing on. Eagerly waiting for the room to have sometime for her to bring it up. "She's saying that her mother would know about Hemsa if anyone. And that we should make our way there first." He removes the paper from his face, leaning down to stare at her for a moment. "Hmm, seeing you up close. You remind me of someone" He causes her to shy back away behind Athena, making him laugh in response.
"I presume you can guide us there then?" Adam asks her, receiving her nod as a response. "Maybe we can get answers about Jackson as well" He looks to me with a monotone look, or rather a weariness which I can't blame him for.
"And about the mirror, is it possible for us to repair it like we did last time?" Percy questions.
"We would need the shards, but it's worth a shot I guess? The portal Chris placed should still be there so you'd end up around Persephone's old curse zone, not too far from the pack village." Anubis responds.
"Speaking of Persephone, what happened to her?" Percy's interest piques.
"She said she wanted to find Hades? I think we'll probably see her around sometime in the future but as for the moment, she's on her own journey." Athena speaks with a sudden dryness in her throat as Adam jumps to support her swaying state.
"I'm going to go get her something to eat and what not. Alex and Yasmine return to the pack house. Nimue, Arthur, Percy and Gabriela, meet us at the front of the underworld by Cerberus." Adam orders, without anyone's denial he leaves the room.
"Is that how I sound sometimes?" Anubis points at the door they left through, referring to his sudden burst of authority.
"Yes" We state in unison.
"Good" He smiles, opening the door and ducking through the frame. Only his room and ones of importance having taken his height into concern, I guess these spare rooms were meant for...others?
-
Adam's POV
Carrying her off towards the brightly lit dining hall that I'm seeing for the first time I look back at Athena, realising how much has truthfully changed for her both emotionally and well...physically now. Her long black hair essentially cloaked over us like a robe, running down me as I place her in a seat.
"About Rane-"
"He's dead isn't he?" She completes with a rough tone.
"How'd yo-"
"Someone that was able to slither their way into your heart and see something else? Sounds just like him, even if it wasn't truly him." She looks away, keeping her head facing from me.
"Yea-"
She cuts me off again, "Even if he was shit. Even if he challenged my very existence and denied us that freedom of being our own people. I don't resent him anymore. I don't." She begins tapping on the table at a repeated pace as if waiting for something.
Stopping her brief taps she takes an audible inhale, "I'm proud of you Adam" She turns around with tears in her eyes but her face plastered with a bright smile.
"I'm proud of you as well Athena" I can feel my mimicked expression as an emotion overwhelms me. I just want the best for us, all of us.